Thermogeological assessment of open-loop well-doublet schemes: a review and synthesis of analytical approaches

Use of well doublets for groundwater-sourced heating or cooling typically results in a “thermal plume” of cool or warm reinjected groundwater. Such a plume may be regarded either as a potential anthropogenic geothermal resource or as pollution, depending on downstream aquifer usage. A thermal plume may pose an external risk to downstream users and environmental receptors or an internal risk to the sustainability of the well doublet, due to the phenomenon of thermal feedback. A three-tier assessment of the risk of thermal feedback is proposed, based on: (1) consideration of well separation and yield; (2) analytical modelling of heat migration in a doublet to ascertain breakthrough time and post-breakthrough temperature evolution and (3) numerical modelling of complex scenarios.     

热屏障井对地下水源热泵换热影响模拟

对于场地受限的地下水源热泵项目,随着系统运行时间的增加易引发热贯通现象进而降低机组运行效率。地下水源热泵设计中,在抽灌水井连线间布设热屏障井可改变地下水流场,降低热量在抽灌井间的运移速度,有利于延长热贯通发生时间并缓解热贯通程度。通过构建地下水换热模型,模拟计算夏季制冷工况条件下36组热泵运行场景,分析了热屏障井的位置,过滤管长度及回灌量对热贯通和含水层温度场的影响规律。结果表明:热屏障井回灌量的增加有利于提升热屏障效果,但提升幅度随回灌量的增加逐渐减弱;最大水位降深值随着热屏障井回灌量的增加呈线性增长;增加热屏障井滤管长度可提升热屏障效果,提升效果随屏障井回灌量的增加逐渐增强。通过模型多周期、长时间模拟计算发现,热屏障井的运行可促使回灌的冷热量集中在回灌井一侧,对于采用冬夏季抽灌井交换运行模式的热泵系统,可充分利用含水层储能,提升机组运行效率。     

Modeling the effects of the variability of temperature-related dynamic viscosity on the thermal-affected zone of groundwater heat-pump systems

Thermal perturbation in the subsurface produced in an open-loop groundwater heat pump (GWHP) plant is a complex transport phenomenon affected by several factors, including the exploited aquifer’s hydrogeological and thermal characteristics, well construction features, and the temporal dynamics of the plant’s groundwater abstraction and reinjection system. Hydraulic conductivity has a major influence on heat transport because plume propagation, which occurs primarily through advection, tends to degrade following conductive heat transport and convection within moving water. Hydraulic conductivity is, in turn, influenced by water reinjection because the dynamic viscosity of groundwater varies with temperature. This paper reports on a computational analysis conducted using FEFLOW software to quantify how the thermal-affected zone (TAZ) is influenced by the variation in dynamic viscosity due to reinjected groundwater in a well-doublet scheme. The modeling results demonstrate non-negligible groundwater dynamic-viscosity variation that affects thermal plume propagation in the aquifer. This influence on TAZ calculation was enhanced for aquifers with high intrinsic permeability and/or substantial temperature differences between abstracted and post-heat-pump-reinjected groundwater.

     

Thermal performance and heat transport in aquifer thermal energy storage

Aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES) is used for seasonal storage of large quantities of thermal energy. Due to the increasing demand for sustainable energy, the number of ATES systems has increased rapidly, which has raised questions on the effect of ATES systems on their surroundings as well as their thermal performance. Furthermore, the increasing density of systems generates concern regarding thermal interference between the wells of one system and between neighboring systems. An assessment is made of (1) the thermal storage performance, and (2) the heat transport around the wells of an existing ATES system in the Netherlands. Reconstruction of flow rates and injection and extraction temperatures from hourly logs of operational data from 2005 to 2012 show that the average thermal recovery is 82 % for cold storage and 68 % for heat storage. Subsurface heat transport is monitored using distributed temperature sensing. Although the measurements reveal unequal distribution of flow rate over different parts of the well screen and preferential flow due to aquifer heterogeneity, sufficient well spacing has avoided thermal interference. However, oversizing of well spacing may limit the number of systems that can be realized in an area and lower the potential of ATES.     

地源热泵系统地下水热量运移阶段特性模拟研究

含水介质中地下水热量运移过程模拟是地源热泵系统这类新型浅层地温能利用工程科学论证的重要内容。通过建立饱和含水介质中热量运移对流-弥散数学模型,模拟了拟建地源热泵系统理想的对井抽-灌运行特定水流及热源条件下地下水热量运移过程。结果表明热泵系统完整运行周期(一年)内地下水热量运移过程具有显著的"阶段性"特征,"夏、冬抽-灌输运"和"春、秋停运蓄存"两阶段取决于不同的作用因素。从数学和概念模型两方面讨论了地下水流作用对热量输运过程的决定性影响,说明不同时期抽、灌井互换运行是解决拟定工作模式下热(冷)能浪费问题的理想途径。     

Bacterial hopanoids as tracers of organic carbon sources and processing across the western Arctic continental shelf

Tracing the inputs of bacterial organic carbon to marine systems has been constrained by the lack of distinguishing geochemical tracers and limited contribution in sediments compared to other sources of organic matter. Bacteriohopanepolyols (BHPs) provide a direct means to identify bacterial inputs which also reflect potential bacterial groups and their activities in aquatic systems. We applied recent analytical approaches to identify and quantify bacterial derived carbon contributions to surface sediments from the western Arctic Ocean using BHPs. The abundance and distribution of BHPs resemble trends of water column primary production and suggest active heterotrophic recycling of in situ production with some component of long term preservation. BHPs proposed as terrestrial derived signatures (i.e. adenosylhopanes) were also abundant in western Arctic sediments and reflect offshore trends of other terrigenous lipid signatures with a fraction representing their degradative products. Analysis of BHPs in organic rich peat and surface sediments from two Arctic rivers showed the highest inputs of adenosylhopanes, implying active bacterial recycling of recalcitrant terrigenous material. BHPs observed in western Arctic surface sediments reveal significant contributions of bacteria associated with organic carbon from multiple sources.     

Chemical and isotopic investigations into the origin of clay minerals from the Galapagos hydrothermal mounds field

A dark green authigenic nontronite is the major component of the Galapagos hydrothermal mounds field sediments. Oxygen isotopic compositions of the chemically purified, <0.2-μm fraction of the nontronitic clays indicate formation temperatures of 25° to 47°C, in contrast with measured in situ mounds temperatures of up to 15°C. Assuming an authigenic origin, the Fe-rich montmorillonite that dominates in the noncarbonate clay fraction of the surrounding pelagic ooze has isotopic formation temperatures of 27° to 39°C, compared with measured in situ temperatures of ca. 3.5° to 6.5°C. The higher isotopic formation temperatures calculated for the hydrothermal nontronite suggest either complex patterns of fluid circulation and nontronite precipitation presently within the mounds or a higher thermal history associated with rapid and episodic periods of deposition during the Holocene-Pleistocene. The apparent high isotopic temperature of the Fe-rich montmorillonite may reflect: (1) formation under hydrothermal conditions at spreading centers with subsequent dispersal by bottom currents, (2) a detrital origin of the mineral, or (3) a mixture of authigenic Fe-montmorillonite and detrital Al-montmorillonite in this region.     

An57Fe mössbauer effect study of ankerite

A natural sample of ankerite has been characterized by chemical analysis, X-ray diffraction and differential thermal analysis. The composition was found to be (Ca_1.11Mg_0.50Fe_0.33Mn_0.09) [Co₃]_1.99.⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer effect measurements were performed at temperatures between 4.2 and 400 K. At low temperatures (T < 25 K) relaxation effects are clearly dominant. The temperature dependence of the center shift is remarkably well reproduced by a model based on the Debije approximation of the lattice vibrations. In contrast, the temperature dependence of the quadrupole splitting cannot be described by any reasonable crystal field model. It is argued that an orbit-lattice coupling might explain the observed quadrupole splittings. A spectrum recorded in an applied field of 6 T reveals a positive electric field gradient from which an orbital doublet ground state is concluded. Highly anisotropic field reductions are derived but cannot be quantitatively explained due to a lack of knowledge concerning the magnetic structure of ankerite. The line widths decrease significantly with increasing temperature which is only partly due to the decreasing Mössbauer fraction.     

北京地区地下水源热泵利用现状及存在问题

本文综合国内外地下水源热泵研究现状,通过对北京地区地下水源热泵利用现状调查分析,重点分析了地下水水源热泵利用过程中存在的不能完全回灌、回灌水温差过大、水井布设不合理等问题。结合北京平原区第四系水文地质条件,分析了不同含水层结构下如何合理布设地下水源热泵系统的用水井,尽量避免水源热泵系统的使用对地下水的影响。     

Neural network approach to prediction of temperatures around groundwater heat pump systems

A fundamental aspect in groundwater heat pump (GWHP) plant design is the correct evaluation of the thermally affected zone that develops around the injection well. This is particularly important to avoid interference with previously existing groundwater uses (wells) and underground structures. Temperature anomalies are detected through numerical methods. Computational fluid dynamic (CFD) models are widely used in this field because they offer the opportunity to calculate the time evolution of the thermal plume produced by a heat pump. The use of neural networks is proposed to determine the time evolution of the groundwater temperature downstream of an installation as a function of the possible utilization profiles of the heat pump. The main advantage of neural network modeling is the possibility of evaluating a large number of scenarios in a very short time, which is very useful for the preliminary analysis of future multiple installations. The neural network is trained using the results from a CFD model (FEFLOW) applied to the installation at Politecnico di Torino (Italy) under several operating conditions. The final results appeared to be reliable and the temperature anomalies around the injection well appeared to be well predicted.     

Thermal expansion of fayalite,Fe2SiO4

Thermal expansion of single-crystal fayalite has been measured by a dilatometric method at temperatures between 25 °C and 850 °C. The results show the presence of anomalous expansion in the b axis, which is correlated to the anomalous variation of elastic moduli with temperature. Grüneisen's parameter is 1.10 and the thermal Debye temperature is 565 K, which is close to the acoustic Debye temperature of 511 K.     

Regional modeling of geothermal energy systems in shallow aquifers: the Leibnitzer Feld case study (Austria)

Large thermal extractions and extensive implementation of groundwater heat pumps (GWHP) necessitate a validation of the sustainability of their use and possible detrimental effects on groundwater. The goal of this work is to develop a regional heat transport model (of ~13 km × 5 km) for real site conditions. This model should consider all relevant transport processes, despite the large area under investigation. The model is based on a two-dimensional, transient-calibrated groundwater flow model for the “Leibnitzer Feld” (Styria, Austria). The two-dimensional horizontal model is linked via the FEFLOW interface manager with a newly developed “Multi-Layer-Model”-tool, which reproduces thermal aquifer–atmosphere interaction. Based on the regional heat transport model, scenarios are delineated for heating and cooling purposes for large GWHPs, which are appropriate for a small manufacturing business, an administrative building and 10 family homes. First of all, these have large spacing and thereafter, effects of area-covering usage of geothermal systems are evaluated for five administrative buildings located in close proximity to one another (200–350 m) and also for a large number of smaller heat extractions (each representing a one family house system). Modeled spatial and temporal temperature effects on the shallow aquifer are discussed. It was possible to present a simulation of realistic heating and cooling scenarios. This simulation may be introduced into practice once some further simplifications to the system are made. Locally limited heat plumes (max. length: 625 m) were observed for the manufacturing business. Any thermal effects coming from the geothermal systems were shown to be temporally stable. As such, no distinct trend of reduced annual temperatures could be observed.     

Thermal conductivity of dense hcp iron:Direct measurements using laser heated diamond anvil cell

Thermal conductivity(k) of iron is measured up to about 134 GPa.The measurements are carried out using the single sided laser heated diamond anvil cell,where the power absorbed by a Fe metal foil at hotspot is calculated using a novel thermodynamical method.Thermal conductivity of fee(γ)-Fe increases up to a pressure of about46 GPa.We find thermal conductivity values in the range of 70-80 Wm~(-1)K~(-1)(with an uncertainty of 40%),almost constant with pressure,in the hcp(e) phase of Fe.We attribute the pressure independent k above 46 GPa to the strong electronic correlation effects driven by the electronic topological transition(ETT).We predict a value of thermal conductivity of ε-Fe of about 40±16 Wm~(-1)K~(-1) at the outer core of Earth.     

Thermal expansion of alkali halides at high pressure: NaCl as an example

Thermal defects in ionic materials can have important effects on their thermal expansion at high temperatures. Earlier treatments of thermal expansion generally have neglected or not considered such effects. Here an analytical expression for the thermal defect contribution and its dependence on pressure is derived. We show that such contributions, which are significant at high temperature and atmospheric pressure, become negligible at pressures above approximately 0.25 to 0.35 of the bulk modulus at standard conditions. At very high pressure, based on Birch's (1968) relationship between high and low pressure thermal expansion, and assuming αK _Tis independent of pressure, NaCl thermal expansion can be calculated within the constraints of a semi-empirical quasi-harmonic perfect crystal model. The calculations are compared with available theoretical and experimental values over an extended temperature/pressure regime. The method should have broad applicability for other ionic crystals.     

不同注热水温度下水合物开采实验研究

天然气水合物(NGH)是目前备受关注的新型洁净优质能源,注热法是其有效开采方式之一。为了经济有效地进行注热开采,采用自制的一维天然气水合物开采模拟实验装置,在填砂模型中生成相同初始条件的天然气水合物藏, 然后注入热盐水进行开采模拟实验,分析不同注热水温度对开采动态的影响。结果表明：注热水温度越高,水合物开始分解的越早,注热阶段的平均产气速率也越大;不同注热水温度下,热前缘的移动接近于线性,注热温度从40 ℃到100 ℃时,平均热前缘移动速度从015 cm/min增加到02 cm/min,说明注热水温度对热前缘的移动影响不大。注热前期,注热水温度越高,能量效率越高,但注热后期,注热水温度越高,能量效率反而越低。在本组实验条件下,注热水温度从40 ℃增加到100 ℃时,注热开采的能量效率由67减小到24,而平均热前缘移动速度并没有明显降低。因此,为保证注热开采的经济有效,建议在注热前期注高温水,在中后期采用低温水驱替。     

水源热泵系统对地下水水质及微生物的影响

为了解地下水源热泵运行对地下水环境（地下水化学、水质及微生物）的影响,本文利用沈阳市已建地下水源热泵工程场地,对回灌井定期（2013年7月至2015年10月）监测水质及微生物,并对监测数据进行分析.结果表明：水源热泵系统运行对地下水化学类型（由HCO₃·SO₄-Ca·Mg型变化为监测早期的HCO₃·SO₄·Cl-Na·Ca及监测后期的HCO3_{·SO4-Na·Ca·Mg型）及微生物的生长速率（温度变高或变低均抑制微生物的数量）产生了一定的影响;对地下水中稳定化学组分的浓度影响不大,对"三氮"及Fe、Mn浓度产生波动,导致地下水质量等级略有变化.因而今后工作还需进一步加强热泵系统运行对地下水环境影响监测.}     

Numerical analysis of thermal fracturing in subsurface cold water injection by finite element methods

Integration of poromechanics and fracture mechanics plays an important role in understanding a series of thermal fracturing phenomena in subsurface porous media such as cold water flooding for enhanced oil recovery, produced‐water reinjection for waste disposal, cold water injection for geothermal energy extraction, and CO₂ injection for geosequestration. Thermal fracturing modeling is important to prevent the potential risks when fractures propagate into undesired zones, and it involves the coupling of heat transfer, mass transport, and stress change as well as the fracture propagation. Analytical method, finite element method, and finite difference method as well as boundary element method have been used to perform the thermal fracturing modeling considering different degrees and combinations of coupling. In this paper, extended finite element method is employed for the thermal fracturing modeling in a fully coupled fashion with remeshing avoided, and the stabilized finite element method is employed to account for the convection‐dominated heat transfer in the fracturing process with numerical oscillation circumvented. With the thermal fracturing model, a hypothetical numerical experiment on cold water injection into a deep warm aquifer is conducted. Results show that parameters such as injection rate, injection temperature, aquifer stiffness, and permeability can affect the fracture development in different ways and extended finite element method and stabilized finite element method provide effective tools for thermal fracturing simulation. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An 57Fe Mössbauer effect study of poorly crystalline γ-FeOOH

Four synthetic lepidocrocite samples with a significant difference in crystallinity have been studied by the ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer effect technique at temperatures ranging between 12 K and 360 K. In the magnetically ordered region, the spectra display broad hyperfine field distributions, the profile of which could be derived numerically. In a broad transition region of approximately 20 K, an additional doublet must be included in the fitting model. From Mössbauer thermoscanning measurements at zero-velocity and with and without the application of an external magnetic field, it is found that the doublet is due to Fe³⁺ species in a paramagnetic state. Neither the hyperfine field nor the Néel temperature distributions are markedly affected by the crystallinity. In the pure paramagnetic state, the broadened doublets are best described by a distribution of quadrupole splittings in the range 0.3–1.9 mm/s. By numerical manipulations of the derived probability profiles it was possible to distinguish between the iron species in the outer surface layers of the γ-FeOOH particles and those in the innermost layers, the relative amount of each being correlated with the measured surface areas. The centre shift is quite uniform and its temperature dependence, determined in detail for one of the samples, is perfectly described by the Debije approximation for the second-order Doppler shift. From the obtained Debije temperature, a Mössbauer fraction f of 0.79 at room temperature was calculated, which is in good agreement with the results obtained for a reference lepidocrocite/hematite mixture. Finally, line shape simulations aimed to explain the external field spectrum at 180 K provided strong indications that both the sign and the asymmetry parameter of the electric field gradient are non-uniform as well.     

Thermal–hydraulic–mechanical modeling of a large-scale heater test to investigate rock salt and crushed salt behavior under repository conditions for heat-generating nuclear waste

The Thermal Simulation for Drift Emplacement heater test is modeled using two simulators for coupled thermal–hydraulic–mechanical processes. Results from the two simulators are in very good agreement. The comparison between measurements and numerical results is also very satisfactory, regarding temperature, drift closure and rock deformation. Concerning backfill compaction, a parameter calibration through inverse modeling was performed due to insufficient data on crushed salt reconsolidation, particularly at high temperatures. We conclude that the two simulators investigated have the capabilities to reproduce the data available, which increases confidence in their use to reliably investigate disposal of heat-generating nuclear waste in saliferous geosystems.     

Mössbauer and infrared spectroscopic studies of Belgian chloritoids

Three chloritoid samples from the Stavelot massif (Belgium) and one sample from the Serpont massif (Belgium) have been characterized by chemical analyses and differential X-ray diffraction. A classification of chloritoid is proposed. Mössbauer spectra at temperatures between 78 and 360 K and in external magnetic fields were obtained for a triclinic and for a monoclinic specimen. The spectra show a superposition of a weak Fe³⁺ doublet (less than 10%) and an intense Fe²⁺ doublet. It is found that a decomposition of the ferrous absorption into two distinct quadrupole doublets leads to smaller deviations between experimental and calculated line shapes, especially at low temperatures. This suggests that Fe²⁺ is present in both cis and trans O₂(OH)₄ octahedral positions in the trioctahedral layer. However, the structural data derived from the temperature dependence of isomer shifts and quadrupole splittings, are found to be inconsistent with known crystallographic data. It is therefore concluded that Fe²⁺ is present in only one type of lattice site and that the numerically imposed decomposition into two ferrous doublets is merely an artifact due to thickness saturation effects and to the distributive character of the hyperfine parameters. The negative sign of the electric field gradient further confirms the assignment of the Fe²⁺ doublet to a cis octahedral configuration. Finally, only minor differences between the Mössbauer results for triclinic and monoclinic chloritoid are observed. The infrared absorption spectra of the four samples are almost identical except in the region around 600 cm^?1 at which the monoclinic phase exhibits two absorption bands instead of one band for the triclinic samples. All absorption bands can be well assigned to the different vibrations. Inter-layer hydrogen bonding is evidenced by the occurrence of two v _O-H absorption bands. Furthermore, the specific nature of the infrared spectra enables a fast identification of chloritoid samples.